Patty & friend at the leprechaun museum in Dublin!
It’s hard for us to believe that it’s been three years since our extraordinary private tour of Ireland, Patty’s ancestral home. But today, St. Patrick’s Day, we’re thinking about the emerald Isle and all it offered to us.
We began with the delights of Dublin, a truly wonderful city. Then our tour took us to the ancient site of Newgrange, south to Cork, then on to Killarney. We marveled at the Book of Kells in Dublin, Blarney Castle, the breathtaking Dingle peninsula, and a number of sacred places along the way.
Ireland truly is green, but it’s much more than that. It was for us a trip that had long been on our bucket list and we’ll go back the moment that the opportunity presents itself!
Join us for a few moments of our private tour to see for yourself…
The Boscolo Grand Palace Hotel, our home away from home in Rome. We were very happy to finally get there from the airport!
We had been to Rome twice before, arriving by ship both times. Just this past fall, we flew into Rome and landed for the first time at Rome’s Leonardo Da Vinci Airport, its international airport in Fiumicino.
After three wonderful days in London, we had made our way to Gatwick for the short flight to Rome, anticipating our three days there before setting sail for the Greek Islands and Istanbul. In spite of all the woes of airline travel these days, we were still excited to be making our way to the eternal city. An hour later in Rome’s airport we were beginning to doubt our modus operandi. To say that the luggage handling was lengthy would be an understatement, and there was a distinct lack of any customer service for British Airways passengers. However, after a rather impatient wait, the luggage finally arrived. We were ready to take on Rome. Or so we thought.
We made our way out the doors of the international arrivals into a sea of people waving placards announcing the names of their passengers who had pre-booked their taxis. We often do this, but we’ve had to wait so many times for our taxi drivers – especially at Heathrow – that this time we decided to wing it. Mistake number one.
As we made our way through the crowd, Patty spied – or was spied by – a man sporting a lanyard which presumably identified him as an official taxi driver. As throngs of people passed by, he asked us if we were looking for a taxi. “Yes,” Patty said, immediately after which he grabbed her suitcase from here and propelled his way through the crowd toward the door where the taxis waited in a queue at the curb.
He maneuvered his way past this line to a waiting car just beyond and thrust our suitcases rapidly into the trunk. He smilingly opened the door and ushered us into the back seat which we obligingly let him do. Mistake number two.
There was already a man in the front passenger seat. We wouldn’t mind sharing the cab with his brother, would we? We actually did mind, but it seemed unfriendly in the face of their clear friendliness to tourists, and he was already there.
There was no visible identification inside the vehicle and no meter. He began to pull away quickly as Patty asks him, “How much?”
“Just tariff,” he says.
Patty presses him. “Could you be more precise?”
The driver sighs and pulls out a laminated card from a pocket. We look at it. It is this moment where we know without any doubt that we have “been had” as they say: 100 Euros for a trip from the airport didn’t seem right. After all these years of traveling, we have managed to avoid most of the travel scams and consider ourselves to be quite savvy. This time we weren’t. But it wasn’t over yet.
The joys of modern technology meant that we were able to immediately pull out a cell phone and track our route on Google maps so that we could be assured we were actually taking the direct route to our hotel, a tactic we highly recommend in any city you don’t know well. We followed the dot all along. The friendly driver and his friendly brother were both aware of our tracking, but were not aware that Art had, in fact, also searched out and discovered that the tariff would be closer to 40 Euros.
We finally arrived at our hotel, the driver pulling up to the curb far enough past the hotel that the bellman didn’t immediately realize we were guests of his establishment.
We were both out of the car quickly, pulling our suitcases from the now-open trunk (which the brother didn’t’ want us to do), before the driver demanded 100 Euros. Art passed him 40 Euros which resulted in an angry rebuttal about the fare. At this point, the bellman at the hotel noticed us and immediately came over to assist with our luggage. As the bellman took our luggage for us, Art asked him what the normal tariff from the airport to this specific point in the city would be. He indicated that it was between 40 and 50 Euros, so Art pulled out another 10 Euros and gave it to the brother who was still demanding a hundred. We firmly paid the 50 and followed the bellman and our luggage into the hotel, not looking back. The bellman was appalled at the audacity of his countrymen.
In retrospect, we realized we should have been savvier, but we had been anxious to get away from the throngs at the airport. We should have lined up for the taxis in the official line and been patient.
On occasion, however, you might find that you don’t have much choice. We recommend that you get the fare sorted out before you put your luggage in the trunk of the car, even if you have to restrain the driver – which we would have had to do. Then get out your cell phone and track the route (make sure you have a roaming package before you leave home!). We learned a lesson – we hope you might benefit from it.
Sometimes a perfect day for discerning travelers relies largely on the weather cooperating. At other times the weather be damned! Earlier this spring we spent a perfect day in Dublin and were determined that weather would not play a part in our enjoyment of every single moment – and that was a good thing!
We left our hotel (the Westin Dublin) shortly after a wonderful breakfast in their charming dining room heading across the street to Trinity College. Our first stop was to visit The Book of Kells and the old library. A library might not seem so exciting to you, but Patty has a long and happy association with libraries. He very first part-time job at the tender age of sixteen was working at her home town’s children’s library – the highlight of each week was setting up the projector on Saturday mornings to show short films to children huddled in a circle of tiny chairs. Then she stacked books at the main library during her first year in university. Art spent many hours searching for books in the old science library when he was an undergrad at the same university. So, the association is long and deep.
The Book of Kells is an extraordinary piece of history. Dating to what historians believe to be about 800 AD, the display of this illustrated text of the bible created by Columban monks evokes a feeling of closeness to history. And then you move into the old library with its extraordinary collection of antiquarian tomes that are currently being restored by artisans working on the mezzanine you can see above.
The museum of Ireland’s architecture is worth the visit in itself!
One of the things that made this visit so perfect was our timing: we visited in April and spent not a single minute in line, a situation that we’re told does not occur in high season. It was bliss! Then we walked out into the overcast day to make our way to the National Museum of Ireland.
Even if you’re not a museum lover, this is one not to be missed. We are constantly impressed by the skills of Irish and English museum curators to tell a story. Perhaps our impression results from these two countries having rich histories that date much further back in time than that of our young homeland. Whatever the reason, this museum transports you back in time to the Viking days of Ireland and then moves you through history. Who knew that bogs could preserve even clothing let alone human bodies for so many centuries? Even the building itself, purpose-built in the 19th century as a museum, is an outstanding specimen and should be appreciated in itself.
That visit finished, we headed outside and made our way to St. Stephen’s Green for a bit of outdoor appreciation. Our enjoyment was magnified by the fact that although Dublin is significantly farther north of our own home town, the climate is quite different and the spring was much further advanced here. The flowering trees were in full bloom and the respite from the noisy city was complete. Then it was time for lunch.
Guinness: An Irish tradition served on a Canadian beer coaster!
With a recommendation from our driver who would soon be taking us on that private tour of Ireland, we stopped into The Old Stand for a pub lunch and our first taste of Guinness. This is a pub that has been in this same location on Exchequer Street for some 300 years. When the waiter placed the coaster on the table upon which to place the half-pint of dark, frothy Guinness, we both smiled and asked him how he knew. Knew what, he asked. That we were Canadians. The coaster was an advertisement for Canadian beer that was at that time being widely promoted in Ireland with the slogan “From our land to yours.” He smiled broadly when we told him we were Canadians as Patty tasted her first Guinness. Then it was off to a famous landmark.
St. Patrick’s Cathedral dates from 1220 AD; a visit to Dublin would not be complete without seeing it. What a surprise it was for us to find out that this well-known landmark is not a Roman Catholic Church at all, but rather the national cathedral of the Church of Ireland, a denomination of Anglican persuasion. We know that a steady diet of church visits is not everyone’s choice when touring – it is not ours either. But from time to time you do need to visit a church or two to really get the flavor of the place in time. So that’s why we then planned a walking route across the River Liffey to find St. Michan’s church. And that’s when the heaven’s opened and we found ourselves in a veritable deluge. Although we had umbrellas, the wind was moving the torrents of rain horizontally so they did us little good. We took refuge under the eaves of the law courts for a few minutes until we thought it safe to continue. We were wrong. By the time we reached out destination we were soaked. Good thing that this particular church is known for its dry interior!
The amazing floor of St. Pat’s
Not exactly on the tourist route, St. Michan’s church is Dublin’s oldest north-side parish church founded in 1095 with the present structure dating to 1685. It’s that dry interior in both the church itself and the vaults beneath that are what makes this church so interesting. That’s why there are completely preserved, desiccated bodies that can be seen as you make your way down into the underground vaults with the guide who is a cross between Boris Karloff and a stand-up comedian.
After two churches, a museum and a library, and finding ourselves still on the north bank of the Liffey, it was time for something completely different. A short walk found us standing in front of the National Leprechaun Museum. We know. We can hear you now. The Discerning Travelers at a museum dedicated to leprechauns? In a word, yes.
A relatively new addition to the tourist attractions in Dublin, this is less of a museum than it is a place to hear a really good story teller tell stories about one of Ireland’s most ubiquitous mythological characters. Patty’s opening question to the ticket seller at the front was, “Do you let adults in?” To which he replied that in fact adults were their main audience. So we entered, and we enjoyed.
Patty & friend!
The sun was out when we emerged from our stories of the “little people” and it was now late in the day. We had one more important stop to make.
On Custom House quay in the Docklands area is the mesmerizing Famine Memorial that remembers the great famine that engulfed the Irish people in the mid- 19th century. Although our histories are a bit murky, it’s likely that Patty’s family made their way to Canada aboard one of the so-called famine ships. The monument that we had to see is a heart-breaking set of bronze sculptures that depict hollow-eyed, hungry people making their way along the banks of the River Liffey toward the ships that promised them a new life in a far-away land. And for many of them, this promise came true, as their descendants have the privilege of traveling the world to appreciate all that it has to offer.
The Famine Memorial on the shore of the River Liffey in Dublin. Take a few moments to remember.
No travel experience would be complete without a bit of champagne, don’t you think? When we visited the champagne district in France a few years ago, in addition to our unforgettable visit to the Veuve Clicquot caves (if you read our blog regularly, you’ll know that it is our preferred brand), we visited the resting place of the monk Dom Perignon who is credited with “discovering” champagne. Upon first tasting his concoction, he is reported as having said to a fellow monk, “Come quickly! I am tasting the stars…”
There really is something special about the experience of champagne; something a bit festive – a feeling that these discerning travelers relish when taking in new travel experiences. Perhaps it’s the bubbles; or it might be the sparkle of a pristine flute. Or maybe it’s that pop of the cork that has us conditioned to expect something a bit more special than our ordinary lives. Whatever it is, that notion of something beyond our everyday existence is at the heart of discerning travel experiences in our view. And we’ve just returned from yet another remarkable trip that started in – of all the unexpected places – Manchester, UK. But the champagne connection…we’re getting to that.
When we were spending wonderful afternoons sipping champagne at the Veuve Clicquot champagne bar on a trans-Atlantic voyage on the Queen Mary 2 a couple of years ago, we never considered that a visit to Manchester (as a prelude to a tour of Ireland) to see our son in the UK tour of Cats, the musical that we’d find ourselves visiting a champagne bar three times in five days. But there nestled on the second floor of a rather modern building among the history in Manchester is the unexpectedly wonderful Épernay.
The Opera House in Manchester
Named for the city 130 km northeast of Paris in the Champagne district of France where you can find the cellars of famed champagne producers Perrier-Jouët and Moët& Chandon, among others, this Épernay is a real find.
We stumbled upon it at the end of a long day of a self-directed walking tour covering the entire downtown are of this interesting city. We first spied the lights outlining the bottom of the second-floor windows and looked up to see tables topped with sparkling glasses which set us off in search of the entrance around the corner. It turned out that had we approached it from the opposite direction we would have found that it was a stone’s throw away from the Opera House where Cats was in residence for the better part of the month of April.
Epernay Champagne Bar in Manchester, UK by night
We ventured up the stairs and emerged into an outer bar area which led into the charming main area decorated by a line of empty champagne bottles of every label and vintage. We settled into leather seats by the floor-to-ceiling windows and ordered a glass of Veuve and a plate of pitta (their spelling) bread and dips. While savoring our reward for a wonderful day of new city experiences, we struck up a conversation with one of the very personable servers who recommended a champagne cocktail. Oddly, we had never experienced a classic champagne cocktail before that time, always wanting to savor champagne in its purest form. Of course we’d had Bellini’s, Kir Royale and other concoctions, but never a classic one. And so we ordered.
We have discovered a new cocktail experience, enjoying it so much that we took our son back there after a performance two nights later so that he could have his first one. Why have we never had one before? And it’s so simple. A sugar cube is placed in the bottom of a champagne flute, a few drops of bitters are added and then the cube is soaked in cognac. Fill up the glass with champagne, and you have heaven in a glass.
Or maybe it’s just the thought of a those bubbles. F. Scott Fitzgerald is said to have been moved by drinking champagne saying: “I had taken two finger-bowls of Champagne, and the scene had changed before my eyes into something significant, elemental and profound.” That’s it: significant & profound, as every discerning travel experience should be.
Patty enjoying a champagne cocktail at Epernay Champagne Bar, Manchester
The Discerning Travelers 
You must be logged in to post a comment.